1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus to construct and provide aesthetic content for contact lenses, along with apparatus and methods to provide individuals with that functionality.
2. Description of the Related Art
Contact lenses or contacts are simply lenses placed on the eye. Contact lenses are considered medical devices and may be worn to correct vision and/or for cosmetic or other therapeutic reasons. Contact lenses have been utilized commercially to improve vision since the 1950s. Early contact lenses made or fabricated from hard materials were relatively expensive and fragile. In addition, these early contact lenses were fabricated from materials that did not allow sufficient oxygen transmission through the contact lens to the conjunctiva and cornea which potentially could cause a number of adverse clinical effects. Although these contact lenses are still utilized, they are not suitable for all patients due to their poor initial comfort. Later developments in the field gave rise to soft contact lenses, based upon hydrogels, which are extremely popular and widely utilized today. Silicone hydrogel contact lenses that are available today combine the benefit of silicone, which has extremely high oxygen permeability, with the proven comfort and clinical performance of hydrogels. Essentially, these silicone hydrogel based contact lenses have higher oxygen permeability values and are generally more comfortable to wear than the contact lenses made of the earlier hard materials. Rigid gas permeable hard contact lenses, on the other hand, are made from siloxane-containing polymers but are more rigid than soft contact lenses and thus hold their shape and are more durable.
Currently available contact lenses remain a cost effective means for vision correction. The thin plastic lenses fit over the cornea of the eye to correct vision defects, including myopia or nearsightedness, hyperopia or farsightedness, astigmatism, i.e. asphericity in the cornea, and presbyopia i.e. the loss of the ability of the crystalline lens to accommodate. Contact lenses are available in a variety of forms and are made of a variety of materials to provide different functionality. Daily wear soft contact lenses are typically made from soft polymer materials combined with water for oxygen permeability. Daily wear soft contact lenses may be daily disposable or extended wear disposable. Daily disposable contact lenses are usually worn for a single day and then thrown away, while extended wear disposable contact lenses are usually worn for a period of up to thirty days. Colored soft contact lenses use different materials to provide different functionality. For example, a visibility tint contact lens uses a light tint to aid the wearer in locating a dropped contact lens, enhancement tint contact lenses have a transparent or translucent tint that is meant to enhance one's natural eye color, the color tint contact lens comprises an opaque tint meant to change one's eye color, and the light filtering tint contact lens functions to enhance certain colors while muting others. Bifocal and multifocal contact lenses are designed specifically for patients with presbyopia and are available in both soft and rigid varieties. Toric contact lenses are designed specifically for patients with astigmatism and are also available in both soft and rigid varieties. Combination lenses combining different aspects of the above are also available, for example, hybrid contact lenses.
Cosmetic contact lenses may comprise patterns composed of one or more elements that completely, or more preferably, partially overlie the wearer's iris. These lenses may also comprise a limbal ring. A limbal ring is essentially an annular band of color that when the lens is on the eye and centered, partially or completely overlies the lens wearer's limbal region which is the junction of the sclera and the cornea. The inclusion of a limbal ring may make the iris appear larger, darker and/or more defined. The combination of the limbal ring and an iris pattern makes the appearance of the lens on eye more natural. In other words, an iris pattern allows the limbal ring to blend in naturally with the wearer's eyes and the combination of an iris pattern and a limbal ring creates blending, depth, contrast and definition.
Other cosmetic contact lenses focus on the sclera rather than or in addition to the iris. For example, a contact lens may comprise a brightly colored peripheral portion, i.e. outside of the iris region, that may be opaque, semi-opaque and/or translucent. The bright portion may extend from the edge of the limbus to the edge of the contact lens creating the impression of a brighter or whiter sclera. These contact lenses may also include a limbal ring which as stated above, may make the iris appear larger, darker and/or more defined than it would otherwise.
With developments in fabrication technology for contact lenses, customized lenses may be readily available at lower cost. While this customization may relate to the geometry of the lens, constructing the lens to an individual's prescription for example, then further customization options may also be possible. An example of these possible customization options may include aesthetic, rather than purely functional or geometric, options. A notable aesthetic customization need may include pigmentation of a contact lens; this may achieve various aesthetic qualities for a wearer, including changing the apparent eye color of the wearer, or masking the eye with special and possibly intricate aesthetic patterns.
Due to the decreasing costs and increasing manufacturability of customized lenses, the means by which they are sold has similarly evolved. As a notable example, patterned lenses are particularly popular among teenage girls in many parts of the world. Many of these girls use lenses which do not provide any visual correction, the function of the lenses is purely aesthetic. Shops and kiosks exist in malls and stores that may sell thousands of different aesthetic based lenses, allowing for large selection. These lenses may not always be of the highest quality, but their appeal may be their relative uniqueness. With relative ease, an individual can own a set of lenses that is different from all of their friends. There may be so many options that it may be difficult for a user's friends to even find the same pair of lenses, and this uniqueness, the fact that the special pattern can be ‘theirs’, is useful. Nevertheless, there may be needs to further enhance the ability of users to obtain unique designs and potentially even participate in the design of the lenses.
As mentioned earlier, there may be some reduction of the quality of the lenses that are currently being afforded. Hereto, an ability to provide aesthetic customization while also providing high levels of quality is desirable. Such lenses may provide the aesthetic aspect while protecting such quality aspects as user comfort and safety.
Accessibility of recent technologies, from instant online access to television shows nearly anywhere with the push of a button, to additive manufacturing allowing for the printing of customized 3D objects in the comfort of one's home, have evolved to grant the ability for consumers to instantly access the products or services they desire on demand. It may be desirable to provide for similar methods to provide customized high quality lenses with aesthetic characteristics along with high quality and safety.